Yusuke Iseya, Koichi Sato , Kyoko Koizumi , Kazue Fukiishi.

Director Negishi Kichitaro has been an established name in Japanese cinema for the past thirty years, with works ranging from classic 80s films Distant Thunder and Story of the Detective to the 1998 crime drama Bonds. Based on a Narumi Sho novel, his acclaimed 2005 film What the Snow Brings, a.k.a. Yuki ni Negau Koto, is a quiet, moving depiction of modern life and family, and the subtle forces that push and pull people together and apart. Set in the snowy beauty of Hokkaido, What the Snow Brings touches on universal themes of family, reconciliation, and returning to nature in a way that feels fresh, humanistic, and affecting. The film features an outstanding cast, with Iseya Yusuke (Memories of Matsuko, Honey & Clover), Sato Koichi (Aegis, A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth), Koizumi Kyoko (Hanging Garden), and Fukiishi Kazue (Nice no Mori, Memories of Tomorrow).

Manabu (Iseya Yusuke) once had great dreams of storied success and living it large in Tokyo, but the city has treated him cruelly. With nothing left to his name, he dejectedly returns to his native Hokkaido to live with his older brother Takeo (Sato Koichi). For these two vastly different brothers, there is no joyful reunion nor tearful greeting, only years of what was left unsaid, amidst the snow-covered lands of the horseracing stable Takeo tends. As Manabu devotes his time to taking care of a racehorse on the last leg of its life, the brothers slowly come to terms with themselves and each other.

What the Snow Brings garnered much acclaim both domestically and internationally, with Negishi receiving Best Director nods from the Hochi and Mainichi Film Awards. The film also swept the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival, picking up the Grand Prix, the Best Director Award, the Best Leading Actor Award (for Sato Koichi), and the Audience Award.